Credit
Mariama. Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.
Credit
Mariama. Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.
Set in Sierra Leone, this is how leprosy has affected the life of a girl called Mariama. Starting with the fishing community in which her village is located on the coast, it explains how she was sent to a herbalist some miles away. A leprosy village has sprung up around the herbalist and when she is visited by the District Medical Officer and his assistant (the former is also the narrator to the story), they realise that as her illness is in the early stages, she could be treated and cured at the Leprosy Hospital. She is fitted out with special sandals to protect her feet. She becomes one of the "lucky ones".